The ultimate goal of your chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy is receiving a discharge from the court. In a chapter 7 bankruptcy this occurs after your paperwork is filed, the meeting of creditors is held, the time period has passed for any creditors to object to a discharge, and you have completed your required financial education course. The post Bankrupcty Discharge appeared first on Tucson Bankruptcy Attorney.

When considering filing for bankruptcy there are a number of factors to evaluate. Many of our clients are facing serious financial and emotional losses, perhaps even including foreclosure of a home or repossession of a vehicle. We can help with these issues and many others. When you file a bankruptcy petition creditors are not permitted to keep contacting you for payment. Now, there are some exceptions; for example, if you want to keep your house you may find it easiest to discuss small matters (like a payment address or a change in escrow accounts) directly with your lender. If you would like to do this we can discuss this and fill out the proper paperwork to allow that type of communication.Though there are exceptions, the general rule is that your creditors cannot continue to contact you after you file for bankruptcy. This protection is called the "automatic stay". However, you should know that this protection has limitations. While the creditor cannot try to obtain payment from you or contact you regarding payment, the creditor does not have to continue to do business with you in the future. In most cases credit card companies will close accounts of cardholders that file for bankruptcy.Where this can be particularly troublesome is when your doctor or hospital is listed as a creditor. We have many clients, both with and without medical insurance, that owe their doctor or hospital money. This can range from a small copay to thousands of dollars for medical care. Once you file bankruptcy your doctor or hospital does not have to continue to provide you with services. Of course, there are exceptions if you require emergency care as medical professionals are required to provide anyone needing emergency care with services, regardless of ability to pay or other considerations. However, the provider would only have to stabilize you and then could refer you to another provider.We know this sounds a bit scary, but there are various options available. If the amount owed is very small, and you can afford it, you may be able to pay the amount prior to filing for bankruptcy and not be required to list your doctor or provider as a creditor. Please note, that it is absolutely imperative that you speak with us before doing this, as certain types and amounts of payments prior to a bankruptcy can be considered fraudulent and will complicate your bankruptcy. If payment is not an option you may be able to contact your provider and explain the situation to find out their policy in advance. You may also choose to voluntarily repay the debt. The doctor cannot ask for that, or require it, but in some cases doctors have accepted the payments and continued treatment. Finally, if these solutions will not work, we can talk about different bankruptcy options that involve repayment of creditors.If you have questions about this, or any other matter, please contact your St. Louis Bankruptcy Attorney today!

What You Should Know About Bankruptcy FraudBankruptcy fraud is a serious federal offense that can cost you more than just your personal possessions – it can cost your freedom. There are various ways debtors try to deceive the court from learning more about personal finances. Many consumers may not realize that doing one act alone, such as concealing an asset, can have you facing charges for fraud.Consider the following points:There are 4 forms of bankruptcy fraud. These include concealment of assets, false or incomplete filed documents, multiple filings under false names, and bribing court appointed trustees.Roughly 70 percent of fraud cases involve concealing assets. This can be done in different ways but a common form includes transferring titles to family members or friends.Filing bankruptcy in multiple states is also fraud, but debtors that do this may use real or false personal information when filing forms. Some do this to buy more time to conceal assets.Another form of bankruptcy fraud commonly involves unauthorized agencies or petition mills. These agencies act as a consulting service to help cash-strapped consumers from being foreclosed, evicted, or have further legal action taken against them. Such agencies claim to file bankruptcy for you and then they pull out and disappear from the case; leaving debtors out of money while charging exorbitant fees.As a federal offense, bankruptcy fraud is punishable by up to 5 years in prison with a $250,000 fine in some cases. Probation is another option depending on the outcome, but you may end up being responsible for debt obligations that were intended for discharge or elimination. -->

Divorce is complicated. Bankruptcy is complicated.  Divorce and bankruptcy together are really complicated. The Bankruptcy Code is a series of trade-offs. The interests of creditors are balanced with those of the Debtors who need relief.  Some debts can’t be wiped out in bankruptcy.  Rights arising from divorce are treated with great respect in bankruptcy. Here are some debts which can’t be3 discharged in bankruptcy. recent tax debt debts where the debtor lied or committed fraud student loans debts arising from divorce – domestic support obligations in particular debts arising from intentional wrongful acts – like assault and battery debts arising from justifiable reliance on a false financial statement debts arising from embezzlement or defalcation. The Bankruptcy Code is sometimes much more complicated in practice than it is as written. An example of this is found at sections 523(a)(5) and (a)(15) both of which deal with debts arising from dissolution of marriage or divorce.. Bankruptcy Code section 523(a)(5) is straightforward: Not dischargeable is any debt for a “domestic support obligation.” So child support, alimony, and so forth are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. 523(a)(15) specifies that not dischargeable is any debt “to a spouse, former spouse, or child of the debtor” that isn’t child support, but that is made “in the course of a divorce or separation or in connection with a separation agreement, divorce decree, or other order of a court of record…” When representing a debtor in bankruptcy, an attorney needs to review the divorce decree. But the analysis doesn’t stop there. Because 523(a)(15) has been interpreted more broadly than it reads. What if, for example, a divorce decree specifies that one spouse will be 100% responsible for a joint credit card? That wouldn’t be a debt to the (ex-)spouse. It’s a debt to the credit card issuer. It seems like it shouldn’t be 523(a)(15) debt – but it is. Imagine: A family court Judge has already found one partner responsible for payment of the debt. If that partner doesn’t pay – if that partner is discharged in bankruptcy – the debt doesn’t just evaporate. The other partner retains the obligation to pay. For that reason, even though this hypothetical obligation to pay is not a debt “for a domestic support obligation,” and it’s not “to” the spouse, former spouse, or child, it’s still a 523(a)(15) debt. But it’s not, interestingly enough, 523(a)(5) debt. Not that it makes sense; It’s complicated. There are options. A chapter 13 discharge may, in fact, discharge 523(a)(15) debt, just like it can discharge parking tickets (523(a)(7)) that a chapter 7 can’t discharge. A lawyer needs to be both sophisticated and ready for a swashbuckling argument with the other partner’s attorney. Settlement is possible. The point is, in this and so many other ways, the Code has nuances and a client filing for bankruptcy needs a lawyer who can explain them, and can make them work best for the client’s needs.

If you are filing for bankruptcy, either under chapter 7 or chapter 13, your income matters.  Why?  People who make more than the median income – the income more than 1/2 of the people make – are presumed to be abusing the system if they file a bankruptcy under chapter 7.  For an individual, that’s around $40,000 and for a family of 4 that’s around $80,000. It’s better for most people to file chapter 7 than chapter 13 because in chapter 7, you are done with your bankruptcy in 4 months.  In chapter 13, you pay more fees and you make monthly payments to a chapter 13 trustee toward payment of your debts for 5 years.  This can be a good deal if you are trying to save property or catch up with mortgage arrears. It’s not such a good deal if you have a very little non-exempt property which you might lose in a chapter 7. When you make more than the median income, we have to figure out if you overcome the presumption of abuse. We do that by analyzing your income and expenses under the government’s Means Test as adopted by the Bankruptcy Code. Many of our clients are married.  Frequently, one person in a marriage has debt and needs to file for bankruptcy but the other does not. Then what happens? It’s not all that simple. We have to figure out your projected disposable income.  To figure this out, we need to know not only what you make and what your expenses are, we also need to know what your spouse makes and what your spouse’s expenses are. That’s because anything your spouse makes beyond your spouse’s own separate expenses are deemed to be available to you as disposable income to allow you to pay some of your debts.  This additional disposable income might make a difference in determining (a) whether you are eligible to file a case under chapter 7 or (b) how much you’ll have to pay as a monthly payment if you have to file a case under chapter 13. It might seem unfair that your spouse’s income must be considered if you are filing a bankruptcy case and your spouse is not.  But Congress has spoken  and we must help you obey the rules. The good news is that if you file a bankruptcy case and your spouse does not, your bankruptcy case has no adverse impact on your spouse’s personal credit. It’s complicated when one spouse files for bankruptcy and the other does not.  Lakelaw’s board certified bankruptcy attorneys have great experience with complex cases like yours.  Count on us to help you when you have tricky bankruptcy questions.   Call Lakelaw in Chicago or Waukegan at 847 249 9100 or in Milwaukee or Kenosha at 262 694 7300.

Follow Advice For A Smooth Chapter 7 If you want a chapter 7 bankruptcy case to go smoothly, then you want to follow all of the advice of your attorney. This advice starts with being open and honest regarding your financial situation. Your attorney is going to want to know everything that you have in+ Read MoreThe post How To Have A Smooth Chapter 7 Bankruptcy? appeared first on David M. Siegel.

Our client needs to file for bankruptcy but can’t file her case until August.  Why?  She wants to discharge income taxes and must wait until they have been due long enough. In the meantime, creditors were suing her and getting judgments. Once a creditor in Illinois gets a judgment against you, it can take steps to collect the judgment.  Most frequently creditors will try to collect their judgment by using a citation to discover assets.  The creditor can direct the citation to discover assets to the debtor or to anybody else who the creditor thinks might have assets belonging to the debtor – like a bank or an employer for example. Most people facing judgments in Illinois don’t know that they can protect themselves with the same exemptions which they might use in bankruptcy. Sure, we can file a bankruptcy case to protect against a judgment. But not everyone can file a bankruptcy and it could be a problem for someone to file a bankruptcy right away.  Maybe it’s been less than 8 years since a prior bankruptcy.  And maybe we need to wait to let an important deadline pass.  There’s a 3 year waiting period from the last day to file a tax return for discharge of certain taxes.  There’s a 4 year waiting period from certain transfers which could be avoided as fraudulent transfers.  There’s a 1 year waiting period from payments of debts to friends family or relatives. In the meantime, we can claim exemptions for a judgment debtor to prevent a creditor from taking assets.  What did we protect for our client this week? We protected $2400 equity in her car using the automobile exemption We protected another $4000 equity in her car using the wild-card exemption We protected 85% of her wages using the wage exemption We protected 100% of the cash surrender value of her life insurance because it was for the benefit of her children We protected 100% of the money in her children’s bank accounts for which she was custodian because this was proceeds of social security, a public benefit. We protected 100% of the money in her IRA because this is fully exempt under Illinois law. These are just a few of the important assets which creditors can’t touch if they have a judgment against you. Click here for additional information about exemptions in Illinois and Wisconsin.  While our client will certainly have some challenges from now until the time that it is optimal for her to file her bankruptcy case, we at Lakelaw will continue to protect her outside of bankruptcy until we can get complete relief for her in bankruptcy. If you are facing judgments but can’t file bankruptcy today, call David Leibowitz at Lakelaw today at 847 249 9100.  We can intervene today to help you solve your immediate problems while we develop a lasting and permanent solution to your financial distress.  

For chapter 11 debtor's lawyers, Matter of Pro-Snax Distributors, Inc., 157 F.3d 414 (5th Cir. 1998) is like the sword of Damocles--constantly hanging over counsel's head and threatening to deny compensation when a case goes south.   While 11 U.S.C. Sec. 330(a)(3) makes results one of several factors to consider in awarding compensation, Pro-Snax makes "identifiable, tangible and material" results a pre-requisite to getting paid.    While several Bankruptcy Judges have pushed back against Pro-Snax, there has not been a publi-shed decision from the circuit construing Pro-Snax since it came down.   However, that may change soon.My firm was on the receiving end of a Pro-Snax ruling (please don't tell anyone), which finally made it to the Fifth Circuit last week.    In oral argument, the Court indicated that this was not the only Pro-Snax case they were considering.   Here are some excerpts from the oral argument in No. 13-50075, Barron & Newburger, P.C. v. Texas Skyline Interests, Ltd., et al:Mr. Sather:   Since 1998 when a panel of this court decided the Pro-Snax case the lower courts have struggled with the meaning of Pro-Snax . . .Judge Owen:   So have we.Mr. Sather:  . . . a case that they have described as "difficult to apply" and "having clouded the issue."  Today the court has the opportunity to clarify whether the Pro-Snax court intended to modify Title 11 and in effect reverse Congress and intended to modify this Court's prior precedents on attorney's fees in bankruptcy or whether Pro-Snax can be harmonized with the statutory text and this court's prior precedents.   In case it's not obvious, we're taking the latter position.   We believe Pro-Snax can be harmonized with the other rulings from the Fifth Circuit as well as the statutory text.Judge Prado:  Our opinion could be the opinion that clarifies it for everyone? Mr. Sather:  There is another case pending before the court on the same issue that was argued in November.  Ironically, with Pro-Snax having been out for fifteen years, the two cases pending before the Court right now are, to what I can see, the first ones to say please tell us what the heck you were thinking when you decided that.    Judge Owen:  I've seen it four times this year at least, so why is it all of a sudden Pro-Snax is bubbling up in so many cases?Mr. Sather:  I think that when you get a bad ruling (against your own firm), there is a reluctance to appeal.   In this case, our firm was stubborn enough to bring it up.   But the strange thing is, Judge Gargotta, who heard the case said that in his five or six years on the bench, it was the first time the issue had come up.   So I think what happens is that the case is honored more in the breach than in the day to day operation of chapter 11 because most chapter 11 cases fail and you would expect therefore that most chapter 11 lawyers would have their fees denied.The take-away here is that the Fifth Circuit seems to definitely be thinking about Pro-Snax, which is a good thing.   The other thing is that it's really weird hearing your own voice on a recording.  The argument can be accessed on the Fifth Circuit's oral argument page.

The Bankruptcy Court Date When you file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you’re going to have to appear at a 341 meeting of creditors. It is called a 341 meeting of creditors because section 341 of the bankruptcy code requires a debtor to appear and be examined under oath. This 341 meeting of+ Read MoreThe post What To Expect At The Bankruptcy Court Date appeared first on David M. Siegel.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney And Saving Property Being a Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney puts me in a unique situation.  It allows me to help somebody either save a home from foreclosure or save a vehicle from repossession or otherwise reorganize unsecured and secured debt over a period of 3 to 5 years.  When people come+ Read MoreThe post Why Do I Like Being A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney? appeared first on David M. Siegel.